Game wardens in Russia's far eastern Kamchatka region are on the prowl for a bear believed to have mauled a man to death, the Interfax news agency reported Sunday, citing regional law enforcement sources.
The bear's victim was an angler who had traveled from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to fish in the Plotnikova River in the region's Ust-Bolsheretsk district, according to the report.
Police were called to the scene after fellow fishermen heard the victim's cries for help. Law enforcement officers recovered the man's lifeless body, which the bear had torn to pieces with its fangs and claws, the report said.
The mauling was the first bear attack in Kamchatka this year, according to Interfax. Bear attacks in the region claimed the lives of two people in 2014.
Last year, game wardens shot and killed several dozen bears who were believed to represent a threat to the population, Interfax reported. The Kamchatka region has a population of more than 20,000 bears.
